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I’m sure all of you have your countdown clocks going for the first major event in 2008 — the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses! So much drama, so many television commercials, so many cliches and platitudes. The Los Angeles Times published a story about former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and his roving army of homeschooled children/precinct captains.
Here is one more brief look back into the wave of Christmas and pre-Christmas stories, even as we move into the heart of the actual season of Christmas.
I love finding religion stories in the sports pages and business pages of the newspaper. New York Times‘ reporter Douglas Quenqua had a great one this week about religious values and internet dating.
The Washington Post‘s Jacqueline Salmon and Hamil Harris wrote up their Christmas story about the pressure pastors are under to hit a home run with their Christmas Eve sermons. I love the angle, particularly because I’m the daughter of a pastor and remember how difficult the Advent and Christmas seasons are for clergy.
What a year it has been for religion-in-sports stories. The year started off with Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy leading his team to a Super Bowl victory proclaiming the power of God at every opportunity, followed by a series of religion and baseball-related stories.
Loyal GetReligion readers will recall that, back in September, I sang the praises of a wonderful New York Times feature story by reporter Warren St. John that began like this:
When “good girl” celebrity Jamie Lynn Spears announced she was pregnant, reporters cast their rhetorical stones at the fallen teen role model. As Monica Hesse of The Washington Post wrote:
I’ll say this for Rowan Williams, the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury: He communicates directly and accessibly when speaking with broadcast journalists. Indeed, people who care deeply about the conflicts of the Anglican Communion might wish that Williams would grant a monthly one-hour interview to BBC Radio 5′s Simon Mayo.
